With the emergence of Ally McBeal on the FOX Television Network a few
years ago, I found a character that I could love quite easily. Quirky,
eccentric and something of a traditionalist, Ally wanted it all 
to include a man and children. This got the feminists in something of
an uproar. There was quite a commotion on the part of the feminists over
Calista Flockhart's character wearing short skirts. They thought it was
demeaning to women. My philosophy is that if you've got it, flaunt it
 within reason, of course.

While I do not condone some of the situations that Ally allows herself
to be drawn into, she is the first major 'hip' female character who breaks
the feminist mold, and has sent a message to old-world feminists that
their credo was fatally flawed.

I believe it was Betty Friedan who later admitted that the reason the
women's movement lost much of its steam was because of their blind spot
regarding the family. Feminism was sought to create a level playing field
for men and women in the world. As it was taking hold and establishing
itself as a force in American society, some of its most ardent and radical
supporters were not held in check, and as a result, disaster occurred.

Repudiation of marriage and the family took hold, and in the end, it
created for a terrible backlash. What's more, feminism was never meant
to create implacable sexual war with men, which invariably was a result
of the teachings of seemingly well intentioned but misguided souls. They
thought they were doing the right thing, while others were just self-indulgent.
You know what they say about good intentions  the road to hell is
paved with them.

You've come a long way baby...

One of the pioneers of the Equal Rights and feminist movements was Gloria
Steinem, who got her first fifteen minutes of fame in life as a Playboy
bunny in Chicago. She went on to be a leading force for women's rights,
to include being a big backer of the 'pro-choice' forces in the Roe v.
Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion in the United States
in 1973. The abortion issue, perhaps the feminist trademark issue,
still has severe repercussions to this day and is one of the most divisive
issues of our time.

Steinem later went on to become the editor of Ms. Magazine, a leading
feminist journal. She had always stated that marriage ruined relationships,
and that may have been one of the reasons why she and US News and World
Report Editor Mortimer Zuckerman never got married. She just seemed like
one who was wholly devoted to her cause.

In the past and even now, I have cautioned friends who spend too much
time at work to have a life outside the office. Some of them say they
are 'married to the job.' I remind them of what I once heard and that
was, "If you marry the job, someday you'll wake up and discover you
have an unfaithful companion."

And now we have the news that at age 66, Gloria Steinem became a first-time
bride in a private ceremony last weekend. She married a South African
entrepreneur who is the father of a Hollywood actor. And as I contemplate
this, I cannot help but think a couple of things: first, she has to be
feeling that she has wasted a large portion of her life; and second, you
have to know that Patricia Ireland and Naomi Wolf are quaking over this
event. After all, Gloria was one of their leaders  their champion
for women and more than likely, they feel that they have been sold out
by the queen bee herself.

Which goes to show that when you get right down to it, the search for
happiness can often take you in the most unlikely of directions.